Sunday, June 26, 2011

The challenge this week should bring out all sorts of creativity. Our first inspiration is from Valerie, my guest artist. I am so pleased to have this talented lady as my guest artist this week. Below Valerie's creation are the creations of the Design Team. I hope you enjoy.

Guest Artists - Valerie-Jael Tups

For this challenge I have made a tryptich out of cardboard, which I have called "fairy tale magic*. The cardboard has been partly peeled, painted with gesso, and then drizzled with a bit of cream coloured metallic paint to give more texture. After distressing with TH inks in wild honey, faded jeans, forest moss and Victorian velvet, I heat dried it all, which makes the metallic paint bubble and twist.

I have used different elements for decorating, as I wanted to give a fairy tale atmosphere - trees flowers, Hänsel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, owls and birds and butterflies. The trees - made with the TH die cut, have been embossed in copper and silver, and divided up over the tags, as has the *wicked wolf*.

Design Team

Here is a little inspiration from the Design Team.

Barbara

This week our challenge is Things With Wings and our sponsor is Moonlight Journey. I was in a bit of a playful mood as I was working on my card. I decided to use these gentlemen from the Faerie Explorers Collage Sheet against a background from the Celestial Views ACEO Backgrounds. Moonlight Journey has many beautiful collage sheets and many have winged things. I just thought that these guys made me smile. The background also features butterflies which also have wings. To make this card I layered the background on a white panel and then on a brown card base. The sentiment is from Club Scrap. I cut out the two explorers and the chest. The chest was adhered to the background and the two winged guys were popped to give dimension. I hope I gave you a reason to smile today

Petra

This is a new little journal I did bind myself. Once the book was finished it was the perfect shell for a little decoration using Prima Marketing papers and a sweet little image from the Vintage Catnip. The edges of the paper layers are slightly distressed.

Vicki

Here is my inspirational card. The lady and wings are digitals from Moonliught Journey, my sponsor for this challenge. The background is a Technique Junkies technique, Distressed Glue. I tried something new on this card. I embossed the wings in UTEE. This not only makes them shine, but makes the wings ceramic looking.. This was my first time using my new Melting Pot and I only burned my finger once!!! I'm looking forward to really learning how to use my new toy.

Moonlight Journey is sponsoring another challenge. Click on the image above to go to their site. There you will find loads of great digital sets and individual sheets. Go take a peak and see what all they carry.

"Things with Wings" is the theme for this challenge. Oh, the possiblities. Anything with wings is acceptable. Here are just some ideas....Natural things like bees, birds, airplanes, fairies and of course you can put wings on unnatural things like people.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Here are some additional wingy things to inspire you to join in the challenge this time. You still have a week to enter. The winner is chosen by random generator so everyone has an equal chance whether you are a beginner or an advance crafter.. Don't forget that the winner is always notified and gets to have her entry in the "winner's spot" at the top of my sidebar for 2 weeks.

Vicki

I started to make a quick card when I realized that everyone else posting today had made a tag, but then I decided to go with my tag also. That way you can see each of our personalities in our tags. My tag uses two chickens from one of Moonlight Madness' dictionary sheets. The backgound uses direct to paper distress, inking over a stencil and a small piece of embossed webbing. A piece of red rafia acts as a ribbon in the hole.

Michele here: I have three stamped tags to celebrate the things with wings challenge. All of the backgrounds are colored with Stamp Zia watercolor jewels. The party cat hat is from Lost Coast Designs. Fairies are unknown. All of the stamps for the winged princess girl tag are from a set by Clear Art Stam

Once you get going with things with wings you can't stop! You still have one week to play. I hope you'll join in!

Valerie

Valerie

I have made 2 more little wooden tags with wings, a house and a heart. They have been covered with some ancient book pages, gessoed, and then distressed with TH inks before being glazed with crackle accents. I have added some tiny German scrap figures, some of course, with wings and both tags have butterfly wings in addition.

There are so many ideas for making things with wings, it doesn't just have to be things born with them! Valerie-Jael

Newest Member

Valerie (above) is my newest team member so don't forget to give her a thunbs up and congratulate her.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Here is a card I made using the Technique Junkie Faux Tile technique. I wasn't sure how it would look with a face, but I am pleased. The main image and the greeting are both from CS Designs. Coloring was done with Copic. Beside coloring the parts of the face, I took a little Cool Grey and outlined each of the tiles so they would stand out a little better. The flowers are from my stash in the back of a drawer. I didn't even realize they were there. I know I am the only one around who doesn't realize they have something hidden away in a corner.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

I am so excited to announce that I am a member of Digi Darla's first Design Team. For my first creation I made a Father's Day card with one of her digitals. Kim, who is creator of this site is constantly adding digitals to her new blog. You can find the blog here: http://digidarla.com/

This Father's Day card is also an example for her "Something Blue" challenge. The digi was place over a double Spellbinder's mat and part of the card is covered with the Technique Junkies Zig Zag technique. The greeting is computer generated and the football player is colored with Copics. Since the challenge dealt with the color blue, I had to put a little blue on that uniform.

If you have a chance drop by and see her blog. Don't forget to enter her challenge "Something Blue" for some of her digis.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

I decided to go modern today. Here I have used the Monocle digi from CS Designs. She is colored with Copic and I experimented with my new top, a melting pot, and used UTEE on her lips, curl and the monocle. The scanner picked up the light in the UTEE on her monocle. All three parts were then put on dimensional dots to give depth. To give a little texture to the card, I used Highlight Cuttlebug technique on the bottom. Since she is very mysterious, I put the words Secret Thing as the greeting. This is for the challenge on CS Designs.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

This is a chance to show some of your special cards. The theme for the challenge for the next two weeks is "A Special Reason". What kind of cards can you make? Here are some ideas - wedding, birth of baby, sympathy, graduation, words of encouragement, with a religious theme or anniversary. This is just a few ideas, but please NO Birthdays. I know birthdays are special, but we may be doing them later.

I am thrilled to announce that Our Daily Bread is the sponsor for this challenge.

Kellley at Our Daily Bread Designs started this company because she found that there were not many good choices of religious and spiritual stamps.

She designs and manufactures her own line of spiritual rubber stamps. Our Daily Bread Designs also carries a wide variety of designer papers and products to assist you in your card making, scrapbooking and crafting. You can find her site by clicking the logo above.

Now, look below at the samples of the Design Team.

Vicki

I did not have any stamps from Our Daily Bread, but I have ordered some of their 3D sheets. I put in my order too late to show them here, but I hope to later this week. I can't wait to use them. In the meantime my card is either a synpathy (which I have someone I need to send it to) or for someone who has been recently baptized.

I decided to go with mainly black and white. I feel that the black and white really shows up my main image better since it is colored with Copics. The beautiful rose is from McMahon Five Designs. The verse is a d digital from Sweet and Sassy.

Michele

Before this challenge I had never used any stamps from Our Daily Bread but I checked out their website and ordered a set of stamps with quotes by Mother Teresa. I am inspired by Mother Teresa so I was delighted to receive this high quality stamp set which included several quotes and also a lotus flower stamp. My card is meant as an encouragement. I kept it very simple. I made my background by spritzing watercolor jewels by Stamp Zia. I got extra dimension by using a paper towel to dry the watercolors rather than letting them air dry. I colored the stamps with markers rather than ink so that I could use multiple colors on the flower. I affixed all of that to some nice textured card stock. We always need cards for special times -- I hope this challenge inspires many of you to get some special occasion cards made before you actually need them!

Petra

On Your Wedding Day

Being in the middle of making the wedding invitations for my daughter's wedding this year, it just had to be a card for a wedding! I layered an A6 vanilla coloured plain card with paper from Prima Marketing and Webster's Pages and attached the paper with some machine sewing to the base. Unfortuantely I cannot remember where the image is from, I had it in my stash like the piece of lace. For the heart I cut it from thick cardboard, covered it in VersaMagic ink, glitter glue and loose glitter. The words (stamps: Eline Pellinkhof) are stamped on little jewellery tags.

Barbara

New Baby

For my card I used Noah's Ark from Our Daily Bread Designs to create an card for a new baby. I stamped the image with Stazon on one side of a piece of acetate. Then I flipped the acetate over and painted it on the back with my Creative Inspirations Paints. When the paints were dry, I flipped back and stamped the sentiment on the front with Stazon. The panel behind the acetate was embossed on the top and on the bottom using two different embossing folders to give the look of clouds and water. The embossings were highlighted using perfect pearls. I connected the acetate to the back panel using small brads. This whole usit was adhered to the base card. I hope you join us in this challenge. Special occasion cards are always needed.

Friday, June 10, 2011

I am thrilled to announce that my special guest for the next two weeks is Valerie-Jael Tups. I am pleased that she accepted my invitation as she creates beautiful works of art. You will love seeing what she creats.. Below is a little information about her.

Valerie - Guest Artist

I am a retired school teacher. I was born and brought up in London, and studied in Lincoln, Nottingham and London. I have been living in Germany since 1972, although I often feel homesick for my home town.

I spend most of my days painting and crafting, but things like h*******k and I*****g are not quite my thing.

I love stamping, distressing, making mixed media pieces, in general getting sticky and messy.

As a teaser for Vicki's next challenge coming out on Monday I have made a sneak peek. You will have to come back Monday and see the whole creation.

I have used different elements for decorating, as I wanted to give a fairy tale atmosphere - trees flowers, Hänsel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, owls and birds and butterflies. The trees - made with the TH die cut, have been embossed in copper and silver, and divided up over the tags, as has the *wicked wolf*.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Here is a birthday card I made for Dude Time Doodles' sketch challenge. The challenge is being sponsored by Technique Junkies. This is the sketch I had to use.

On the outside is the greeting "You're Forever Young". On the inside is says "In Your Dreams!" I thought Little Boy Blue from Graphics Fairy was the perfect image for this. The card was created in shades of blue. The large mat uses the TJ technique Double Bugging. I highlighted the embossing with white ink. The fancy trim on the right was made with a punch.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday. In Tennessee today it is 95*. After church and lunch, I'm staying inside. I know I say I like hot weather, but with the humidity here in TN, it is a little much....now if I lived out west, it wouldn't be so bad.

I hope you are enjoying the challenge that is running now. So far there have been some great "special" entries. You still have a week to enter if you haven't already. Just a reminder - I always notify the winner that she / he has won. That way you don't to constantly go back and forth to my blog to see if you have won. Also, the winner's entry is put in the top corner on my sidebar. Unless stated otherwise in a post, the winner is chosen by random generator.

Petra and I have a couple more "special" cards to inspire you.

Vicki

Here is an encouragement or friendship card. I am using another flower from Our Daily Bread Designs' flower sheets. These are really great to embellish your card or on a mixed media project. The backgroud shape is made with a Spellbinder and the background cardstock of my greeting itself is made with embossed webbing, a Technique Junkie technique. The greeting is a digital from Sweet and Sassy.

Petra
Encouragement

Now and again every single one of us needs a little bit of encouragement, wishing us good luck when facing a new situation, attempting something new. The card was created in this spirit, a card which combines something old and a lot of new. For the old I 're-cycled' the inside of old envelopes and created the square inset, the new bit is everything else (lol): a square white card - a square frame cut with nestabilities from white card - birdcage and birds are from Prickley Pear stamps, the sentiment from Waltzing Mouse - the birds are coloured with VersaColor ink - birds, birdcage and sentiment are embossed.